is. this morning on "early today," the latest details on the investigation cia director general david petraeus. president obama is taking his fiscal cliff argument to a far higher power than congress. we're going to tell you who. indiana investigators want to know what caused a massive explosion, damaging over 30 homes, while leveling some completely. this is "early today" for monday, november 12th, 2012. >> a very good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz. new details continue to emerge in the scandal that led cia director david petraeus to

resign. government officials say after admitting to an extramarital affair with his biographer paula broadwell. multiple sources have revealed the identity of a woman who received harassing e-mails from broadwell and whose complaint to the fbi led to the investigation which uncovered the affair. and there's a growing chorus of questions from lawmakers about exactly when the affair came to light, who in washington was told about it, and when they were told. nbc's kristen walker has the latest on the controversy. >> reporter: according to a senior federal official and close friend of david petraeus, 37-year-old jill kelly complained to fbi agents about being harassed by paula broadwell, david petraeus's biographer. a senior u.s. military official says jill kelly is involved in wounded warrior fundraising in tampa, is married, she and her husband are close petraeus family friends. the down fall started when kelly

complained to the fbi that she was receiving intimidating e-mails from broadwell. law enforcement officers tell nbc news that those e-mails tloed the discovery of others between general petraeus and broadwell and were indicative of an extramarital affair. steven boylen is petraeus's former spokesperson and served with him in iraq. he has spoken to petraeus twice this weekend, and says his former boss is remorseful. >> he said he had an excellent job and in his words, he screwed up, and he knows it. >> reporter: a senior law enforcement official told nbc news that fbi agents interviewed general petraeus in late october, and concluded there was no control violation. members of congress are asking why the fbi did not inform them or the president sooner. >> we received no advance notice. it was like a lightning bolt. i mean, this is something that could have had an effect on national security. i think we should have been told. there is a way to do it.

>> reporter: this comes as we are learning more about the days leading up to petraeus's resignation. house majority leader eric cantor said in late october he was tipped off about the situation. in a statement, cantor said, "i was contacted by an fbi employee concerned that sensitive classified information may have been compromised and made certain director mueller was aware of these serious allegations and the potential risk to our national security." however, the president first learned about the incident on thursday, the day petraeus offered his resignation. a senior law enforcement official says the agent's call to a congressional staffer had no effect on the petraeus-broadwell investigation. still, lawmakers say there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. >> it seems this has been going on for several months, and yet now it appears that they're saying the fbi didn't realize until election day that general petraeus was involved. it just doesn't add up. >> several of petraeus's former aides say broadwell had too much

access to the general. she hasn't been shy about sharing details about her relationship with petraeus and their shared interest in running. >> we both ran pretty quickly. but that was the foundation of our relationship. >> that was nbc's kristen walker reporting there. facing the fiscal cliff now. the president's week is packed with meetings about it. tomorrow and wednesday he'll talk with business leaders and labor representatives in preparation for his first round of bipartisan talks with congressional leaders on friday. >> reporter: today, top democrats drew a hard line. it's either higher taxes on the wealthy or the nation goes over the fiscal cliff. >> if the republicans will not agree with that, we will reach a point at the end of this year where all the tax cuts expire and we'll start over next week. >> reporter: this as one influential conservative called on republicans to give ground. >> let's have a serious debate. don't scream and yell.

it won't kill the country if we raise taxes on millionaires. really, the republican party is going to fall on its swords to defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom are democratic and half of whom live in hollywood? >> reporter: but john boehner would raise revenues by closing loopholes in the tax code. >> raising tax rates will slow down our ability to create the jobs that everyone says they want. >> failure to agree by the end of the year would trig aerocombination of deep spending cuts and expiring tax cuts. that could mean an estimated $2,000 more in taxes next year for the typical household. the jobless rate soaring to 9.1% by the end of year and possibly another recession. boehner and the president were close to a deal last year. the so called grand bargain, $4 trillion in debt reduction including politically sensitive changes to social security and medicare. many think that blueprint still works. >> and the real problem is uncontrolled entitlement spending and the government that

has grown massively, not just under this administration, under republican administration. >> reporter: experts warn of serious damage to the economy if the standoff drags on. >> if three or four weeks from now they're making no progress at all, you're going to see the anxiety and the nervousness growing both in the markets and in corporate boardrooms. it's going to be a rough two months for the u.s. economy. two weeks after the destruction from hurricane sandy, victims are still trying to put their lives back together. more than 100,000 homes and businesses in new york and new jersey are without electricity as they struggle to rebuild. a 77-year-old man has died of injuries from a fall as sandy hit new york, bringing the city's death toll to 43. janet napolitano visited with disaster relief victims. now for a look at your weather, here's bill karins with a weather channel forecast. very good morning to you. >> have a good weekend?

>> i did. it was nonexistent. i'm just kidding. it's coming up, actually. so it's okay. >> i understand that. some of us work weekends every now and then. here's what we're looking at today. big temperature contrast across the country. happy to see we're not going to have any devastating storms this week, but we are going to see a change of weather. the mild air still exists on the eastern seaboard after a beautiful sunday and a cold blast of air is coming down from the northern plains and sweeping across the country. ahead of this front, we have a large area of rain that went through chicago last night during that football game and continues to push through memphis and now eventually towards the nashville area. you can see a few lightning strikes here through central mississippi and just to the north of tuscaloosa, but for the most part it's a soak rain that will greet you this morning, heading into alabama and eventually into eastern portions of tennessee and eastern kentucky, too. the forecast today, we may get a little bit of snow on the backside in chicago this morning, but that will be about it. no real accumulations. the eastern seaboard, you remain dry and warm for one more day while we're still very cold back here from denver to montana.

that's a look at your national forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. so again, as that front moves through areas like nashville, pretty much just a soaking rain. there may be one or two lightning strikes out there, but no big deal with that. behind the front, we mentioned a cold and crisp air mass. milwaukee today only 35 for a high. this week typical weather. nothing dramatic. >> but i saw 29 and 36 on that map. is that typical? >> yes. it's that time of year. >> i'm not complaining then. a british woman is divorcing her husband for refusing to recreate scenes from "fifty shades of grey." and prescription drugs doing more damage than heroin and cocaine combined. your headlines are straight ahead. plus, published reports that newly re-elected congressman jesse jackson jr. may be negotiating a plea deal that could end his career in congress and might even include jail time. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here are som welcome back. here are some of the top stories we're watching. president obama marked veterans day with a traditional wreath laying at the tomb of the unknowns at arlington national s cemetery. israeli forces have fired warning shots into syria after a stray shell from fighting between syrian troops and rebels fell on an israeli army post in the golden heights. 70% of central venice is under water because of heavy rain. high tide there has reached its sixth highest level since recordkeeping began 150 years ago. the now faded blue dress worn by judy garland in "the wizard of oz" has sold for $480,000 at auction. a british woman is divorcing her husband after he refused to recreate scenes from the

best-selling erotic novel "fifty shades of grey." in legal papers, she cites his "boring attitude towards sex" as evidence of unreasonable behavior, which is one of five grnds for divorce in the united kingdom. the "l.a. times" reports that prescription drug overdoses now outnumber deaths caused by heroin and cocaine combined. according to the cdc, nearly three out of four prescription overdoses are caused by narcotic based painkillers, and led to over 15,000 deaths each year. drugs such as oxycontin are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the united states with 300 million prescriptions a year. with that fiscal cliff hanging over wall street and main street, some investors are worried last week's post-election selloff could gather steam. after its worst weekly percentage drop since june, the s&p is now less than four points from correction territory. this week, we'll get new numbers

on retail sales for october and two key inflation reports. overseas this morning, news that japan's economy saw its first contraction this year, new fears its economy may be headed for a recession. good news out of greece where lawmakers approved a new austerity budget, a key step in keeping the country out of bankruptcy. elsewhere, apple and htc settled a 32-month patent battle with a new ten-year licensing agreement. meanwhile, it looks like ticket master is about to see a major threat to its share of the market, thanks to a new partnership between stub hub, papal and aeg. believe it or not, thanksgiving now less than two weeks away, so how much does it cost to host the big day? a new survey finds that it's going to run you about $246 this year, but it looks like more people may skip seconds to get a head start on black friday shopping. toys 'r' us is the latest store to announce it will open 8:00

p.m. on thanksgiving day along with walmart and also sears. there you go. coming up, a massive explosion rocks an indianapolis neighborhood. your nfl highlights are straight ahead. you're watching "early today."

other stories making news "early today" in america now. we begin with what could potentially be an end to jesse jackson jr.'s political career.

cbs chicago reporting that plea deal is in the works for the newly re-elected congressman that could include his resignation and jail time. the illinois lawmaker is under investigation for allegedly misusing over $40,000 of his campaign funds. jackson is currently battling depression stemming from a bipolar disorder and receiving treatment from doctors at the mayo clinic. next to indianapolis, where investigators want to know what caused a massive explosion that left two people dead and dozens homeless. the powerful blast ignited a massive fire that destroyed or damaged approximately over 30 homes. the cause of the explosion is uncertain, but the concussion was felt up to three miles away. finally, it was flying day this past weekend in san francisco. 33 teams did their best to take flight at the tenth annual red bull flugtag. competitors launched their homemade aircrafts into mccovey cove. judges graded on flight time,

creativity and showmanship. there she goes. moving on to sports. the los angeles lakers have a new coach. so much for phil jackson returning to the l.a. lakers. mike d'antoni, former coach for the knicks and suns, is the new boss for the lakers, replacing mike brown. on sunday night football, texans and bears in houston scored a touchdown that just crossed the goal line and the texans won the defensive bat until the second half for a 13-6 win. new orleans' drew brees threw for three touchdowns as the saints ended the falcons' chance for a perfect season. new orleans sealed a 31-27 victory. the baltimore ravens set a club record in scoring during a 55-20 rout of oakland, and in overtime, st. louis and san francisco played to a tie 24-24. alabama's loss to texas a&m puts kansas state in first place and

inn the bcs rankings. oregon moves up to number two. notre dame number three. alabama drops to four. georgia is now fifth. lance armstrong sent a twitter photo this weekend of himself casually lying on a couch in front of all of these jerseys from the tour de france wins that were erased because of the books. you know, the whole doping thing. and the message with the photo reads "just back in austin, laying around" yeah, i'm just lance. just ahead, 007 mania reaches the united states. and say it isn't so. bieber and gomez no more? plus, a telltale sign that the holidays are upon us. you're watching "early today."

welcome back to "early today." who needs the umbrella as you head out the door this morning. detroit, cleveland, columbus, all of you in the state of ohio, indianapolis, it's raining right now. it's all light rain, but you definitely want the umbrella as you head in and out of the car this morning and across the state of kentucky. it looks like this rain will hold off the eastern seaboard during the day today, so you do not need the umbrella. we're clear and cold back here in the midwest after this big storm system. the good news for the east coast, it looks like the rain tomorrow morning will clear by tomorrow afternoon. >> did you say rain tomorrow morning? >> just a little bit, yep. >> see, and it was such a nice day yesterday and then today. >> can't last this time of year. >> okay. let's head now to some entertainment news. bond took over the box office this weekend. "skyfall", the 23rd installment

in the 007 franchise scored the highest ever opening for a bond film. it was the fourth highest opening of the year. "lincoln" also fared well, making close to $1 million in just 11 theaters before its wide release this weekend. here's a fun fact for you. daniel day-lewis wouldn't even break character onset, leading people to believe that he actually thought he was abraham lincoln. the mtv europe movie awards took place sunday night and it turns out our friends across the atlantic love some of the same people we do. taylor swift took home three awards. one direction picked up two wins. and then youtube sensation psy won best video for his megahit "gangnam style." that song is just everywhere. 634 million views on youtube. justin bieber was the biggest winner as he took home three trophies, including best world

stage performer. speaking of the biebs, his awards last night weren't his biggest news this weekend. after weeks of speculation, justin bieber and selena gomez are calling it quits. they are over. e news exclusively broke the story after spotting the biebs out and about with a 19-year-old victoria's secret model. i know, right? his 30 million followers on twitter nearly broke twitter as they sent out messages of support and relief to their newly single idol. this now comes to us from wnbc 4 in new york city where in east rut herford, new jersey, they got a view at hello kitty and elf on the shelf for test flights. the crews rehearsed aerial moves to ensure a safe flight on a parade route. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

>> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. we will throw some clouds into the picture today. temperatures in the 40's. 43 in parkton. 54 in annapolis. increasing clouds today. we will see some sunshine this morning. earlier tonight, maybe a few showers. a high near 66. we will check the seven-day forecast going all the way into the weekend.

>> 41 degrees at the airport. petraeus' did a presdavid career ends in scandal. >> a brawl in dundalk. >> sarah caldwell checking on your morning commute. your morning commute.

[captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> you're watching wbal-tv 11. live, local, late-breaking. this is 11 news today at 5:00 a.m. >> good morning. i'm mindy basara. >> and i'm stan stovall. thanks for joining us for 11 news today. >> it was a gorgeous weekend. >> perfect. >> we will be he